


Two Queens in Atlantis

by ladyjax



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stargate Atlantis, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, Female Character of Color, Femslash Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5020657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth and Teyla - two queens in repose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Queens in Atlantis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kimaracretak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimaracretak/gifts).



> An AU encompassing bits and pieces of Replicator!Elizabeth and Stargate Atlantis: Legacy. 
> 
> It's been ages since I've written femslash and this turned out a lot more atmospheric than I expected. I hope you enjoy, kimaracretak. Thank you for such a lovely prompt.

For all that the expedition had explored a great deal of the city, there were still many rooms that saw little to no use. Elizabeth was grateful for that fact many times over. If someone happened by there was no way to explain why she was up with the dawn, hair drawn back and dressed for fighting, a matched pair of silver knives in her hands. 

 

Every morning the drill was the same: stab, slice - first one way, then another before going for the throat. Over and over until the knives were an extension of herself. What Elizabeth missed in the brute power of say Ronon or even John, she more than made up for it with speed and precision; an unlooked for gift of her changed state. 

Elizabeth winced and hissed as a pull in her thigh brought her to a stand still. 

“Are you alright?”

Teyla got up from the window seat which was her usual spot on these early mornings and walked over, her brow furrowed in concern. The drill and the knives had been her gifts to Elizabeth. Both served a crucial purpose: a way for Elizabeth to stay focused. 

“I’m fine,” Elizabeth said as she rubbed her thigh. The nanites that still infested her blood were compliant, immediately easing the pain in her muscles. A tickle at the back of brain let her know that Atlantis wanted run a check of her own which Elizabeth consented to. That particular connection was still a mystery, one that Elizabeth had been exploring since she’d returned to the city. “Atlantis is just checking in.”

“The city is not your jailer, Elizabeth,” Teyla said gently. Elizabeth sheathed her knives and accepted the towel that Teyla held out to her.

“I know that. It’s just,” Elizabeth blew out a breath in frustration and gazed at her lover. “I am me. I know it deep in my bones but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.”

Teyla reached out and ran a gentle hand over the older woman’s shoulders. “You have watched me struggle with my own gift, Elizabeth. That unsettled feeling, the unknowing, is hard to shake.” She stepped in and Elizabeth automatically tipped her head to meet Teyla’s. They stood that way, breaths co-mingling until the tightness in her chest eased. 

“You will win through this crisis, beloved.” 

A small smile twitched at Elizabeth’s lips as she raised her head. “Is this your gentle way of telling me to get over myself?”

“I would not be so bold,” Teyla replied dryly before gifting her with a knowing smirk of her own. 

“Right.” 

Elizabeth kissed Teyla quickly before turning to walk to the wall, tossing her towel to the side. “Want to work off some energy?” She asked, gesturing towards the rack holding two pairs of bantos rods. “And before you say anything else, we both have meetings this morning.”

“As much as I value John as a warrior, his enthusiasm still does not make up for his lack of skill in our training sessions, ”Teyla replied with a smoldering look that never failed to set Elizabeth’s blood afire. She caught the single bantos rod Elizabeth tossed to her easily, swing it around into a ready position. “I will make sure not to go easy on you as I do him.”

Elizabeth gripped her own stick and matched Teyla’s stance. “Let’s see how easy you are,” she said before she attacked.

**

A human woman could be many things in the Pegasus galaxy. Wife and mother were first and foremost for children were a surety against the inevitable depredations of the Wraith. Too few of them became warriors and leaders. The Ancients had taken themselves to safer pastures centuries before the Athosians and their brethren throughout the galaxy chose to live as well as they could with what they had.

Teyla made do. Not as wife, though some asked. One unexpected child was lost during a long desperate flight through the gate and she put aside thoughts to have another. Instead, Teyla rose to trade and to lead. To hold her people safe as the Emmagan. 

The Elizabeth Weir who first came to Pegasus was far different than the woman who shared both bed and heart with Teyla. That first Elizabeth was brave and foolish in equal measure. Time, experience and then death created a different sort of creature. One that understood cunning and stealth were just as important as diplomacy.

Teyla loved both.

“Earth to Teyla.”

“Hmm, oh,” She broke from her reverie to see the rest of her team looking at her. Ronon snorted softly and shook his head. Teyla refrained from rolling her eyes at his antics and nodded at her team leader “My apologies, John. You were saying?”

“We’re gearing up in forty for P3X-51A. It’s going to be short, mostly just to solidify the agreements already in place. Easy.” John cocked his head to the side, his eyes sympathetic. Her team knew and kept things quiet. Elizabeth and Teyla were family and thus didn’t need to be remarked upon. Teased maybe but that's what families did. 

Teyla nodded. “I will be ready.”

Forty minutes later she was in the gate room, pack on her back, P90 held at the ready. Her eyes met those of the woman who stood next to Colonel Samantha Carter, back ramrod straight. Elizabeth no longer led Atlantis; until the IOA was convinced that her resurrection and return were no threat, she existed in her own limbo. That didn’t stop her from seeing each team off and being there when they returned. She gave the briefest of nods before Sam gave the order to dial up the gate.

The Emmagan walked through gates to new worlds, but now she left a bit of her heart behind.

**

“Teyla.”

“Yes, Elizabeth?”

“I was wondering…well, I, um…”

Teyla wiped her face with one hand and helped Elizabeth up to the top of the small hill that rose just beyond the Athosian’s encampment. A rare day away from Atlantis had been Elizabeth’s reward after the storm that had nearly been the city’s undoing. John had taken Teyla aside and said, “Get her out of here for a while.” He had already taken charge of Rodney and Ford was hanging with Beckett. 

Halling and the rest of the Athosians had opened their arms and their hearts which meant a set of homespun clothes, a skin of the sweetest spring wine and soft, sturdy boots which seemed to take her everywhere she needed to go.

So, at the top of this hill, with the sea and city gleaming in the distance, Elizabeth couldn’t find the words to ask for what she wanted. Luckily, Teyla had her own ways of knowing.

Her warm hands curved around the other woman’s cheeks and drew her in. They kissed with the taste of sweet spring wine on their lips.

**

Elizabeth slipped out the nest of warm blankets and caught up her robe from where it lay at the foot of the bed. As she slipped it on, she made her way across the room to look out the windows. Some time during the night the wind outside her quarters had picked up bringing with it driving rain that scoured the towers and piers across the city. Storm season had finally arrived.

It was still early; barely the beginning of shift change and thus the most precious time of the day. Turning from the window, she walked to the small altar that was tucked into a corner. Her preparations spoke of ease of long practice: the lighting of a single candle. An offering in the form of aromatics tossed on charcoal that was set to burning in a small, travel-sized brazier.

She didn’t necessarily believe in an almighty deity but experience taught her that there were no limits on just giving thanks. 

“The bed is still warm.”

Elizabeth turned to see Teyla's sleep-tousled head peek from beneath the covers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You did not,” Teyla replied as she got out of bed. She pulled on a sleep tunic and pants and joined Elizabeth at the altar, adding her own offering. “How do you feel?

Elizabeth drew Teyla close slipped her arms around the other woman’s waist. “I feel whole,” she said and the words tasted of truth in her mouth.


End file.
